Employment Interviews

Black men living in inner-city Battle Creek, Michigan are given the opportunity to share details of their life experiences. Two local black men were interviewed in this footage. Both men provided personal details(in their own words) describing what it has been like attempting to establish a standard of socioeconomic stability and what challenges black men face attempting to secure vital survival resources(such as sufficient employment with wages that afford individual vital survival resources eg; food, clothing, affordable housing, sufficient healthcare, educational resources, transportation and other vital resources associative to good physical/mental health.) Resilient men express in words while reflecting the emotional visuals demonstrative of these men feeling that they are merely just getting by, in a community where the need for more productive programming is constant, and everyone does not possess the same mental and physical capabilities and abilities. Black Men in the inner city dependent upon effective, evolving resource provisioning programming are faced with an intense life or death struggle, based on the lack of constant( individual/ specific) evolving resource provisioning programming that can assist the incapable, with developing/facilitating programming that can be instantaneously modified to enhance the individuals potential for individual productivity, contributive to assisting each person in securing vital survival resources.

Local black men who are familiar with the experience of living in Battle Creek discuss the physical and mental effects of trying to survive in Battle Creek by being employed and participating in local resource provisioning programming.

Featured in this interview a long-time local resident shares his story growing up as a black man in Battle Creek faced with many intense socioeconomic challenges. Currently a local resident in Battle Creek, this individual talks about the values, morals, and principles his family members instilled into him during the eras of time in Battle Creek that were especially hard for black folks as a result of the state of the community from a historical standpoint. interesting how stories shared by these men indicate the constant need for culturally specific resource provisioning programming to provide the challenged individuals in the local community a better chance at establishing and maintaining a satisfactory standard of mental/physical health.

Locally in the Battle Creek inner-city community the issue presenting the challenge to black men is not whether or not black men can perform tasks and meet expectations associated with higher-paying jobs. Underlying the issue is whether or not black men will be given the opportunity, professional hiring reps associated with these companies do not provide equal opportunity because how they believe an individual of a specific race and culture will reflect the representation of the company in the public commercial view. Companies, businesses, employers, and those relatives seem to look for more reasons to not hire an individual as opposed to finding reasons to employ individuals based a standard of opportunity equality.

a local father living in the inner-city Battle Creek community shares his experience attempting to raise children and trying to establish and maintain gainful employment. Black men have faced the struggle of incarceration and imprisonment as far back as the slave era. Today black men are socioeconomically stagnated by the judicial/jail/prison system despite serving their terms of incarceration through the rehabilitation process. Black men, black women, and other races of individuals in the inner-city community experience difficulty establishing and securing sufficient employment vital to meeting survival needs. Criminal records exist for employers to view publicly. Employers use these criminal records as a factor to assist with determining whether or not the person seeking employment is eligible, despite possessing the knowledge or skill set associated with completing employment tasks. The Michigan legal system allows for certain charges to be expunged (hidden) from public view. Ex-offenders are not eligible for criminal expungement in 80% of these cases until (7) years after release from jail/prison, or (7) years after discharge from parole/probation. This serves as a socioeconomic barrier to anyone in this situation making a wholehearted effort toward making a living in Battle Creek and functioning as a productive member of society.